Letters to Eight Call Aggregators Regarding their Practices and Reports of Patient Brokering

05.30.18

Excerpt: “One of the ways that patient brokers can generate leads on potential clients is through phone hotlines that connect to call centers or call aggregators. During the course of the Committee’s investigation into patient brokering, the Committee received testimony from the President and CEO of a treatment facility who said call aggregators ‘are essentially collecting leads for treatment centers who are willing to pay a price’ and that the call centers will prescreen potential patients with the goal to ‘ultimately sell the patient’s information to the highest bidder.’ Some treatment facilities and marketers are upfront about their use of call aggregators and disclose the names of companies or facilities that answer potential patients’ calls. Others reportedly engage in deceptive tactics to hide the fact that they refer patients to treatment facilities that pay for referrals or to facilities owned by the same company that is operating the hotline.”